Industry unhappy with budget
But increased allocation to power sector welcomed
Shveta Pathak
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 17
The second budget of the SAD-BJP government presented today came as another disappointment to the industry which felt the finance minister Manpreet Badal had failed to come out with any significant measure to give a fillip to the languishing sector.

Increased allocation to the power sector by 100 per cent and the announcement that the second Phase of Lehra Mohabat Thermal Plant will be commissioned by June this year, adding 500 MW of power before the Kharif season, was the good news. Also appreciated was the focus on technical education. However, an "abysmally low" fund allocation to the industrial sector disheartened industrialists.

"It seems that the state government wants to tell the industry to be on its own now. Despite acknowledging that industrial performance in the state had declined, the finance minister did little to improve it. We wanted entry tax on steel to be abolished, but sadly, no such proposal was mooted," said S.C. Ralhan, regional chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council.

A steep decline in excise collection in the state should have been considered as a warning and the finance minister should have done something to make cheap and easy credit available to the small and medium segment, said the industrialists.

"The small and medium sector, was neglected in the Union Budget and the same thing happened in the state budget, too. Enterprises are suffering due to lack of credit availability. For long, we have been urging the government to address this issue but once again we met with disappointment only," said V.P.Chopra, president of the federation of the Tiny and Small Industries Association.

Priority to the energy sector, which got an allocation of 35.5 per cent of plan expenditure, was appreciated by residents and also the industry.

"We have been suffering badly due to power cuts. Even as summer is yet to arrive, we are facing power cuts of as long as eight hours. I hope that increase in allocation would improve power situation in our state and give relief to residents," said Manmit Singh, a resident.

The focus on technical education, said entrepreneurs, would benefit the state's economy in the long run. "Skilled manpower is the need of the hour. Increased focus on technical education would provide more employment opportunities to the youth and at the same time, encourage large companies to set base here," said Janmeet Kaur, a techer.

Raekot, March 17
Major tragedy was averted when a vehicle carrying eight members of a marriage party fell into Bathinda branch of Sirhind canal near Dadhahoor village near here last evening.

Coordinated rescue operation by the police and passersby saved all occupants but the vehicle was yet to be searched.

The marriage party of Swaranjit Singh of Hans Kalan village was returning after solemnisation of marriage at Badra village in Dhanaula area. The driver of Safari car (HR 9393) lost control over the vehicle, when a bus appeared from the opposite side on a narrow bridge near Dadhahoor village. Fortunately, some passersby noticed the vehicle falling in the canal and raised an alarm to save the occupants.

The rescue operation, undertaken jointly by passersby and cops at Jalaldiwal chowki, saved all occupants trapped in water current. Role of Nath Singh, Harjinder Singh and Atma Singh of Dadhahoor, who had dived into the canal before arrival of the police, led by Zamil Mohamad was appreciated by all.

The victims were shifted to a local hospital for treatment of injuries sustained during the incident. Three of the rescued persons were identified as Jatinder Pal Singh, his mother Rekha, sister Simno and their relatives.

According to the police, the mishap occurred allegedly due to overspeed of the vehicle. “Speed of the vehicle was so high that it smashed a thick wall constructed on the bank of the canal and fell into deep water,” said the police.

The police also recovered a bag carrying clothes and valuables from the canal from a distance of about 2 kilometre. The bag was handed over to the family later.

Ludhiana, March 17
The court of sessions judge G K Rai has convicted Jiwan, alias Jasjiwan, of Kila Raipur village, son of a senior Akali leader, and Billa, alias Rohtam Singh, alias Jasbir Singh of Aasi Kalan village, on the charge of killing Gopi of Kila Raipur by throwing him in a canal. The judge sentenced them to undergo rigorous life imprisonment.

Delivering the verdict, the judge held that the prosecution had successfully proved the guilt of accused beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt. The convicts were also ordered to pay Rs 10,000 each as fine.

The accused were booked under Sections 302 and 34, IPC, at Dehlon police station on May 17, 2006, following the complaint of Jinder Singh, father of deceased Gopi.

The complainant had stated to the police that he along with his younger son Sheela were going back to Kila Raipur on their cylces after meeting his daughter Raj Kumar of Jassowal village. When they reached at the canal bridge of Jassowal village, they saw that the accused were quarrelling with his elder son Gopi.

They were saying that he had stolen their money. Whereas his son was asserting that he had not stolen the money. In spite of their resistence, both the accused started beating up his son. The duo pushed his son into the canal water with the intention to kill him, after dragging him from the pavement, further added the complainant.

When his son tried to come out, both the accused started giving him blows with sticks. The body of my son was found next morning near the Narangwal canal bridge, he added.

On the other hand, the accused had pleaded innocence. Jiwan had submitted to the court that his father was a renowned Akali party leader. His
sister was a member of the working committee
of SAD(B), whereas Jinder Singh was a close
associate of the sitting MLA of Kila Raipur, Jassi Khangura. Due to political enmity, he was implicated. Another accused had also claimed before the court that he was also involved falsely due to political enmity. But they did not present any evidence to support their version.

The prosecution had examined nine witnesses to prove its case. Convinced with the arguments of
district attorney Mitter Sain Goyal, the court
convicted them.

Ludhiana, March 17
As many as 997 employees of the Food and Supplies Department, Punjab, have proceeded on mass leave of one-and-a-half-month to protest against the ‘‘harassment meted out to them by the Vigilance Bureau.’’

The protest leave might cast its shadow on the procurement of wheat that starts from April 1 in the state. The employees include 857 inspectors and 140 assistant food and supplies officers, who have applied for leave from March 17 to April 30.

Led by president Hardeep Singh and general secretary Manjit Singh of the Food and Supplies Inspectors’ Union, the employees stated that even if they were not granted leave, they would not join back even if they were not paid any salaries.

‘‘We did not work today. We sat on a dharna outside their office throughout the day and boycotted work. We will not work till our grievances are heard, ’’ said Hardeep Singh.

He added that they were protesting against the undue interference of vigilance sleuths, who were interfering in their work unnecessarily. Things had come to such a pass that two inspectors had even committed suicide in the past.

‘‘They are harassing us in the name of joint custody of grains. They raided a sheller at Mullanpur Dakha recently and stated that 11 bags of paddy were extra than the actual number,’’ he said, adding that they were nearing retirement and were forced to make rounds of vigilance offices.

The inspectors said they had complained to their director at Chandigarh but nobody was listening to them. Today they received a call from the directors and would be meeting him tomorrow.

Ludhiana, March 17
Some miscreants damaged a car belonging to a senior Congress leader near CMC Hospital last night.

Abrahm Irshad, a senior Congress leader, who had unsuccessfully contested the Punjab Legislative Assembly elections, has in a complaint lodged with the Division no 3 police alleged that around 11 pm, he noticed the rear windshield of his car PB 10 AJ 0849 parked outside Preet Cyber Cafe was broken.

He said it had happened twice in last few months that his car was damaged in such a manner.

He has sought a detailed investigation and police security.

He said nothing was missing from the car and the motive of the miscreants was only to scare him.

Ludhiana, March 17
Even as the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) has asked the state government to stop giving sops in the form of free water supply and sewage if it wanted funds and the latter asking Municipal Corporation to roll its back, local councillors are in no mood for the withdrawal of this benefit.

The NURM had recently asked the state and finally the MC to stop waiving water supply and sewage charges if it wanted a grant under the mission. The state had waived sewage and water charges for residents living in the houses measuring up to 125 square yards.

The state government had asked the MC to discuss the matter in the general house and get it passed from the elected representatives. The issue was brought up at the meeting recently but the matter was sent back to the government to reconsider it sympathetically.

The waiver had come as a relief for 80 per cent population in the city living in less than and equal to 125 square yard houses in July, 2006, during the former Congress-run government. It was quite an issue in the city at that time and the matter was passed by the house several times. The opposition in the house had brought the matter everytime on the floor till the government succumbed to the pressure.

But with the NURM asking them to roll back this sop, the councillors of all parties are not in the favour. They are arguing that if the waiver could be given while getting loans from HUDCO, the same pattern can be followed while taking a grant from mission also.

‘‘Moreover if the government wants to roll it back, it should do it itself. Why do they want us to shoulder the blame? No councillor will vote against the waiver in any case, ’’ said a councillor of the ruling party.

He added that if the government wanted to charge the bill to show the mission, it could charge a token money of Rs 10 per month from the residents.

He said they did not want that the MC lose grant on this issue. The crores coming through mission would be of great help for the development of the city. It is up to the government to tackle the issue.

‘‘When we keep telling them to reduce to rate of interest on house tax from 18 to 6 per cent, they never listen to us. When it is coming to roll back the subsidy, it is throwing the matter on us. Why should we take the blame? ’’ said a councillor.

Ludhiana, March 17
In an interactive meeting with Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang, chairman of Punjab State Mandi Board
(PSMB) Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said the board will launch a vigorous water saving campaign in different parts of Punjab with the technical support of
PAU. He said that an action plan in this regard will be prepared soon.

“Water being a critical input in agriculture needs to be used judiciously and for that rural people need to be sensitised with proper technical know-how,” said
Lakhowal. He highlighted that Dr Gurdev Singh Hira, an eminent water scientist, will interact with PSMB officers and the campaign aimed at water saving through the use of posters will be initiated. He emphasised that both print and electronic media will be involved in making this programme a success. Lakhowal said the seed of new variety of paddy, PAU-201, should reach maximum farmers as this variety requires relatively less water due to early maturity period.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kang said the PAU-201 variety is being distributed through kisan melas of PAU and that the university scientists were advocating, through meetings with FCI officials and sheller-owners, that the new variety was nutritionally better inspite of its appearance.

Moreover, this variety yields more rice than Pusa-44 and matures two weeks earlier. In the meeting, Dr Gurdev Singh Hira said during the previous two years farmers have followed the suggestions of PAU to transplant paddy after June 10. This, he said, improved the water situation as the depletion at 82 cm in 2003 became 65 cm in 2005.

He described that there was unanimity among scientists for the transplanting date of paddy from June 15 onwards. Lakhowal said PSMB will make efforts to disseminate the message ‘Save Water, Save Punjab’ for which PAU has brought out a poster.

Ludhiana, March 17
Recently, scientists from the college of Veterinary Sciences, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), in collaboration with officers of Milkfed and Punjab State Animal Husbandry Department, helped in controlling deaths of dairy animals suffering from foot and mouth disease (FMD) in village Rassolpur, Tehsil Jagraon.

Dr S.S. Singh, dean, College of Veterinary Sciences, said the team of experts visited the affected villages four times in February and March and examined sick dairy animals, collected nasal swabs and blood samples and conducted postmortems.

The clinically affected animals had erosion in mouth and feet and difficulty in respiration. The course of FMD disease was 8-10 days. To avoid secondary bacterial infections, the animals were treated with antibiotics and washing of foot and mouth lesions with weak solution of potassium permanganate. The virus of the disease persists in the air and the animal is infected by inhalations and ingestion. Therefore leftover feed and water of the diseased animals should not be used for healthy animals. All the secretions of affected animal saliva, nasal discharge contains virus, said GADVASU experts.

The team of experts led by Dr M.P. Gupta, head, epidemiology & preventive veterinary medicine came to the conclusion that the affected animals were not vaccinated against FMD, which was the cause of the disease. Farmers were advised to contact local veterinary officer, in charge of the civil veterinary hospital to vaccinate all animals in the villages twice a year. Being a contagious disease, farmers were also advised not to bring new animals from the cattle fairs/mandis during outbreak of the disease. Farmers were also advised to vaccinate their animals against Haemorrhagic Septicemia (gal ghotu) twice a year.

Ludhiana, March 17
The Ludhiana District Chemists Association (LDCA) has endorsed the call for a statewide agitation by the state unit of the body against the government proposal to open medical stores in all civil hospitals and dispensaries, both in urban and rural areas with the plea that the move will affect the business of retail and wholesale chemists.

A meeting of the executive committee of the association, held here last evening under the chairmanship of Maan Singh, maintained that the decision to open medical stores in government health institutions on contractual basis was discriminatory and against the principles of fair trade practices.

The meeting was attended by more than 100 chemists from all over the district along with office-bearers of sub-division and sub-tehsil level units of the association. Tikka Dalip Singh and G.S. Chawla, president and general secretary, of the LDCA were also present at the meeting.

Tikka Dalip Singh and Chawla also flayed the government directions for installation of air conditioners at all chemist shops by March 31, 2008. They said in the wake of decreasing margins of profit and heavy burden of taxation on medicines, most of the chemists were not in a position to afford putting up air conditioners in their shops.

Moreover, the state was already reeling under an unprecedented power crisis and the move to force each and every chemist to install an air conditioner will not only prove counter-productive, but also add to the overheads of the chemists, and ultimate sufferers will be the consumers, who will have to shell out more money for medicines.

The meeting unanimously resolved to participate in the strike or any other form of agitation, to be launched by the state body for acceptance of these demands.

Ludhiana, March 17
Tall claims of the government have fallen flat as far as curbing of social evils in society are concerned. Realising their responsibility towards the needy, several city-based NGOs have taken initiative to stand against the evils prevalent in the social set-up and make people aware of their rights.

Though some of these organisations are getting financial grants, yet several others comprising intellectuals, educationists, doctors, students and socialites etc voluntarily offer their services to serve the humanity.

Gift of Life Organ Donation Awareness Society (GLODAS), a recently formed NGO, has started working to spread awareness of need of organ donation and motivate people for the same. It aims to involve the entire transplant community, including physicians, allied professionals, patients, donor families and related organisations, in a collaborative effort to the benefit of organ donation.

Manjula Jain, general secretary, GLODAS, said it would further encourage and assist in the conduct, improvement and growth of medical research, medical experts and medical knowledge in the field of organ donation and other related fields.

Though the policy-makers (government) announce several schemes for women and child development but these seem to exist only in papers as little is being done in the direction. Some NGOs make the masses aware of social evils like female foeticide, dowry system, crime against women etc prevailing in the social set-up. Social activist Preeti Kansal feels that the first-hand information and proper feedback was needed to curb several evils.

Dr Minhas dedicated the novel to those who try their best to finish corruption from society.

Talking about the novel, Dr Minhas said, "The heroine of the novel Amrit and hero Yogi both are honest. They follow the path of truth. They both feel upset witnessing corruption in society, in private schools, in literature, in universities.

Dhanda congratulated the author for writing a grand novel on corruption.

Ludhiana, March 17
The PAU VC has appreciated the decision of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, for honouring the Shiromani Punjabi novelist Jaswant Singh Kanwal and the famous Punjabi playwright and former VC of Punjabi University Patiala, Dr. Amrik Singh with D.Litt.

Dr Kang said Kanwal had tried to project the plight of Punjab farmers meticulously in his own way and that Dr Singh was chairman of the committee that recommended agriculture as a subject in school syllabus.

Ludhiana, March 17
A kirtan contest was organised by members of the Sarab Hind Darbar-E-Khalsa at Sargodha Senior Secondary School here yesterday.

As many as 12 participants from across the country participated in the contest.

Davinder Singh Sodhi was also present. Jasdeep Singh Konke and Baljinder Singh Jindu congratulated the students for visiting the state. Konke said it was a unique effort to encourage the students to pursue religious activities.

Mata Vaishno Devi temple situated at division number 3 chowk was inaugurated on March 14, 1967 by Justice Gurnam Singh, the then Chief Minister of Punjab.

Recently, the temple has completed its 41st anniversary. Many devotees throng the place daily, but unfortunately face lots of problems as the temple is situated in the heart of the city where there is heavy traffic rush. Because of inadequate space, devotees find it difficult to park their vehicles and it also becomes difficult for pedestrians to cross the road. Although Darbar Vaishno Devi Swarn Mandir Trust has been trying to find a solution to the problem since many years, nothing concrete has come up so far. Therefore I request the government as well as the administration to arrange for provision of necessary space for parking of vehicles and divert traffic through other routes. This will go a long way in easing out traffic chaos around the temple.

Raekot, March 17
The local police has booked a farmer of Nathowal village under Section 306, IPC, for allegedly abetting Karamjit Yadav, a migrant farm labourer of Bhulwa Tisari of Sara Basti (UP), in committing suicide. The victim allegedly took the step as the suspect had not allowed him to go on leave for getting married.

Yadav had allegedly consumed some poisonous substance when he had gone to work at the fields of Karamjit Singh four days ago. He was admitted to a private hospital here in an unconscious condition. He died at the hospital yesterday.

While the authorities had allowed the cremation of the body after a postmortem, conducted under Section 174 of the CrPC, some of Yadav’s relatives, including his younger brother Raju, impressed upon the police to book the farmer for causing Yadav’s death.

“As my brother was an educated and a wise person, we cannot believe that he could think of committing suicide. We apprehend that he was killed by poisoning,” alleged Raju before the police.

Investigations revealed that a few days ago, one of Yadav’s friends came to take him to his native village on the “pretext” of his (deceased’s) marriage. Next day Yadav was found in an unconscious state in the fields of Karamjit Singh.

Meanwhile, relatives of Yadav blocked traffic on the Ferozepur road for over one hour to impress upon the authorities to register a murder case against Karamjit Singh. They lifted the blockade after senior police officials of the Ludhiana police told them that they should contact authorities at Ludhiana (Rural) with headquarters at Jagraon or at Circle Office at Raekot. The authorities faced a tough time handling traffic, as they had to divert vehicles on alternative routes.

Mullanpur Dakha, March 17
Two children were crushed to death by a speeding tractor-trolley near Mullapur yesterday. The incident occurred when the driver of the tractor-trolley, loaded with bricks, lost control over the vehicle and crushed two children to death who were standing on the roadside on the Ludhiana-Mullapur highway.

The victims were reported to be child labourers at a brick-kiln unit.

The deceased, identified as Deepak (14) and Monu (9), were brothers. They were sons of Satbir, a migrant labourer. The driver of the tractor-trolley escaped from the scene, leaving the vehicle behind.

ASI Kirpal Singh of Dakha police station is investigating the matter. He said a search was on to arrest the accused.

Ludhiana, March 17
Brooke Bond Taj Mahal has tied up with the fifth annual ETC channel Punjabi Awards, honouring outstanding achievements in Punjabi music in various categories ranging from singing, composing and music direction to
choreography.

A company press note issued here today said the award ceremony has 26 different categories covering every aspect of the most happening Punjabi music industry. The ceremony will feature live performances by prominent stars of the Punjabi music industry.

Ludhiana, March 17
The move by Panjab University, Chandigarh, to display internal assessment marks on notice boards has been welcomed by students of various colleges here. After seeing their performance on the boards for the first time, majority of the students feel that the system will usher in transparency.

Dr S.M. Sharma, principal of Arya College, said they had displayed the lists of internal assessment on the notice boards a few days back and students had taken it positively. “There is not much rush to see these lists because of preparatory holidays but students can come and check their marks from the office anytime,” he said.

Prof Jaipal Singh, president of Government College Teachers Association (GCTA), Punjab, said students had liked the idea. “Those scoring less marks can improve in the written examinations. Majority of students feel satisfied with marks given to them in different streams by their respective teachers.”

However, the flip side is also true. At one of the colleges, the internal assessment list was removed by the students as they were not satisfied by their marks. A BA final-year student alleged that results were biased. “Students having a good equation with the teacher have got more marks than the deserving ones,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tarsem Bahia, convener of Punjab Education Forum, said the system will have both positive and negative effects. With the new system, results will be declared within time and there will be transparency. But the system might have certain flaws. “Who will ensure that the displayed lists are being sent to the university? At the last moment, under pulls and pressure, marks of students can be changed. Earlier, the system had secrecy and students came to know about marks at the time of declaration of results or through detailed mark sheets, but now they can raise many objections. The new system needs to be thoroughly monitored,” he said.

Ludhiana, March 17
In an ambitious effort to discourage cheating during board exams, the district education department has started a poster campaign in various examination centres across the city. Various posters aiming to check the menace of cheating have been pasted outside board examination centres across the district.

R.S. Model Senior Secondary School has become the first school in the district to have pasted these posters outside their examination centres. Mohan Lal Kalra, principal of the school said: “When the education department proposed to start a poster campaign against cheating we showed our solidarity with the cause and requested the department to start their poster campaign from our school.”

The aim of the campaign is to induce a sense of guilt in the mind of students. Deepti, a class XII student said, “I showed the posters to my friend, who often resorts to cheating, and made him feel responsible for ruining his own future. It proved very successful.”

“The motive behind the anti-cheating poster campaign was to spread awareness among students regarding the negative effects of cheating. Students resort to such corrupt practices not realising that it can ruin their future,” said Sudesh Bajaj, district education officer (secondary).

From
Colleges
693 GNG college students get degrees
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 17
The annual convocation of Guru Nanak Girls College was held on Saturday on the college premises. IGNOU vice-president Prof Rajasekharan Pillai was the chief guest. The function commenced with the recital of a shabad by college students. Degrees were conferred on 693 students, including 278 postgraduates. Roll of honour was awarded to 14 students while 35 were given the college
colour. Merit certificates were awarded to 164 students. Principal Dr Charanjit Mahal highlighted the achievements of the students in academics, sports and extra-curricular activities.

SEMINAR: Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology
(LCET) under the aegis of consultancy, training and placement cell in association with Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle organised a blood donation and free medical check-up camp and seminar on how to live healthy life here yesterday. A team from Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC&H) conducted the camp in which more than 40 students and college staff members donated blood. This is the second blood donation camp held in the college within the past six months. Dr
H.S. Bedi, director and chairman, Cardiac Sciences, Ludhiana Medicity Hospital, Dr Pushpinder Singh, director, social and health services directorate, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Dr Neeta D. Kang, head, Innovation Research
Centre, CMC&H, gave presentations on healthy living.

QUIZ: The much-awaited grand finale of an inter-college quiz contest, organised by Synetic Business School was held on the SBS campus in which seven teams from Arya College for Boys, SCD Government College, Kamla Lohtia College, DD Jain College, GTB College,
Dakha, College of Science and Research, Jagraon, Lajpat Rai DAV College,
Jagraon, participated. SCD Government College for Boys team comprising Akshay
Jain, Sunny Nayyar, Ujjwal Jain won the competition and was given a cash prize of Rs 6,000 and a championship trophy. The teams from S. Government College for Science and Research,
Jagraon, and GTB College, Dakha, comprising Payal Garg, Simranjeet Kaur, Amanpreet Kaur and Gulshan
Rai, Vicky Garg and Gautam Vij stood first and second runners up respectively and were given he cash prizes of Rs 4,500 and Rs 3,000 by the chief guest.

LECTURE: A guest lecture on placement in Army was delivered at Khalsa Institute of Management and Technology for Women here yesterday by Col S.
Azimuddin, director, Army Recruitment Office, Ludhiana. Col Azimuddin, who completed his NDA in 1979 and joined IMA in 1982, shared his knowledge with students on various topics.

PRIZE DISTRIBUTION: Charanjit Singh
Atwal, deputy speaker, Lok Sabha, has called upon the students to acquire excellence in their subjects to compete with their counter parts for professional jobs at global levels, where a lot of opportunities have been opened with the advancements in technology. Atwal was addressing the students at the annual prize distribution of SCD Government College here yesterday. In the function, 456 merit certificates were awarded to students in the field of academics, social and cultural activities. College principal Dr Malkiat Singh presented the annual report. He informed that from the next academic session, new courses of
BCA, PGDCA and food technology were being started at the college. Sandeep
Rana, a student of the college, represented the college under the youth exchange programme of the Government of India. He was decorated with a medal by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka a few months back, said Dr Singh.

Ludhiana, March 17
Adarsh Public School, a unit of Temple of Humanity Trust, will be functional from April 1 at Kapil Park Haibowal Khurd, Ludhiana. The foundation stone of the new educational block of the school was laid by the chief patron of the Trust Rakesh Bharti Mittal, here today.

Those present during the function include chairman of the Trust Lt Col (Dr) D.B. Sharma, president of the Trust Vajinder Singh, general secretary Yash Pal Bangia and the patron Prem Sagar Jain.

An English medium school, Adarsh Public School will cater to the needs of underprivileged classes of the society and will offer free education to meritorious students, along with provision for mid-day meals.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 17
Over 300 students of Government College, Karamsar, were presented with degrees and felicitated for their distinguished performance in various fields at the annual convocation and prize distribution function organised on the college campus today.

As many as 73 degrees, including 47 BA, four BSc and 22 BCom, were presented to the students. Dr Sushma Gupta, principal, presided over the function and Dr Neeru Katyal Gupta, SDM, Payal, was the chief guest. Kamal Inder K Singla, past district governor, Lions International, was the guest of honour.

While addressing the students, Neeru Katyal exhorted them to acquire excellence in their respective fields of education. She asked them to equip themselves to meet future challenges.

Referring to the importance of education in the development of rural areas, Katyal said educated people played a vital role in improving social and economic level of all sections of an agrarian society. Education was of utmost importance as it helped curb social evils also. Appreciating the achievements of the college, the SDM said the institution was one of the pioneer institutions engaged in promotion of rural education.

Dr Sushma Gupta, besides presenting the vote of thanks, highlighted the achievements of the students in various fields. Nirmal Singh, registrar, congratulated graduates for receiving degrees. According to Lovleen Bains, stage secretary, the college colour was presented to 11 sportspersons and seven students for achievement in academics. Seven brilliant students who bagged prestigious positions in university examinations were also felicitated.

Ludhiana, March 17
Members of the Yog Seva Parivar
(YSP) have provided financial support to seven fatherless girls during the 34th student welfare programme organised at Government College for Girls here today.

The YSP donated Rs 10,500 to provide free education to these girls.
R.K. Aulakh, principal, GCG, extended a vote of thanks to the members of the
YSP.

Ludhiana, March 17
On the second day of the 5th All-India Guru Gobind Singh Gold Cup Hockey Tournament being organised by the Ludhiana Sports Welfare Association at the Prithipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium of Punjab Agricultural University here today, Punjab Police quelled a strong resistance from Air Force, Chandigarh, before romping home victorious 3-2. The winners were trailing 1-2 at half time.

It were Punjab Police who shot into the lead in the 21st minute when Amit Sandhu scored a field goal. However, their joys were shortlived as Air Force, not only neutarlised the lead but also went ahead.

In the 26th minute, Sanwar Ali of Air Force found the target to level the score and in the very next minute, he converted a penalty corner to put his side into the lead (2-1).

After changing ends, Punjab Police players started the proceeding with renewed vigour. They continuted to storm their opponents' territory time and again. Their pressure tactics yielded result in the 42nd minute when Satwinder Singh sneaked into the striking zone to send the sizzler into the goal (2-2). The match winning goal came off Navdeep Sharma's stick in the 56th minute (3-2).

In the second match, Indian Airlines and Indian Oil Corporation fought a pitched battle and finally the former came out triumphant 6-4. The issue was resolved via a tie-breaker as the two sides were locked two-all at the end of the stipulated period.

IOC surged ahead in the 14th minute through international player Deepak Thakur. Indian Airlines restored the parity in the 40th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Sandeep Kumar and five minutes later, they gained the lead as Vikram Pillay found the target.

Deepak Thakur again struck in the 66th minute which levelled the score 2-2. As the regular period failed to elicit any result, the tie breaker rule was applied in which Indian Airlines proved their mettle and wrapped up the issue 6-4.

Ludhiana, March 17
Punjab Agricultural University’s (PAU) college of agriculture will organise the 47th annual meet of its alumni association on April 3 and 4. Giving details of the event, Dr Milkha Singh Aulakh, dean of the college, said the meeting will have a series of activities including a lecture on Punjab agriculture by PAU vice-chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang.

Besides, there will be poetry symposium (on April 3), sports events and a cultural programme.

The PAU faculty who retired from the college of agriculture will also be felicitated on the occasion. Awards will be presented to the best extension worker and students. Dr Aulakh further informed that delegates from the University of Faislabad, Pakistan, are also expected to participate in the meet.

The poets who will present their poems on the occasion will include Dr G.S. Sandhu, Dr S.S. Sooch, Dr P.K. Chahal etc. The poems will be presented in Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu for which Tarah-i-Misra has been circulated. The cultural programme will be coordinated by Dr Jaswinder
Bhalla.